Charles Grey: The Beginning
by Iresol
Summary: A one-shot on Charles Grey after meeting Victoria, a Prequel to Grey's Family.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Ok

**One winter evening…**

**Victoria.**

So, there I was, trying my very hardest to wiggle my butt through a window in the ladies room. And the window in question was not small. Not only did I have to cut out a hole in the screen, I had to shimmy out without snagging my knit dress on the rough screen wire, a task in itself, I might add. It was snowing like the devil. A blizzard more accurate though.

Oh, and I had heels that could classify as a lethal weapon.

But, the date was no good.

The date was on to me.

He wasn't dating me cause of my charms. Nor was he going out with me because I was interesting, or somewhat OK looking, nor even witty. But he wanted to know about Ryan. About the Special Forces. About any way I could put in a good word for him.

I had to get to my car pronto.

Naturally, I had paged Dad.

He needed the heads up and I needed a ride.

But I had bigger problems. I could snag my dress. So I came up with a solution. I slipped it off, and threw it off the second story window. It landed in a heap behind the restaurant. Then I climbed through said window, pulling mightily hard, regretting that extra stick of garlic bread.

I shimmied on through though.

Stiletto heels in my mouth.

The snow fell around me, making the moment almost serene. Very pretty night and all, it would have been the perfect night for a winter date. Had the date not been a loser.

"What are you doing?"

I whipped my head around at the familiar voice.

None other then one Charles Grey. He stood down below, staring up at me in disbelief. Super! He could catch my shoes. Holding onto the window I took them out of my mouth, "Hey! Make yourself useful and catch."

He set his beer down.

I guess expecting to catch me.

But I dropped my shoes down instead, which he caught, thankfully. I really didn't want them scratched. Upon catching them he turned and set them on a dumpster.

While doing so, I pushed myself out the window, did a flip, and landed on my feet.

Quite impressed with myself.

He stared with raised eyebrows.

Haughtily I replied, "Eight years of gymnastics and I still got it. Damn I'm good." Which just elated me to no end. I gleefully ran to my dress in stockings, pulled it on, and then dressed myself. Making myself somewhat warmer. But I had escaped loser-boy. I then put on the heels. And off I went, after of course bidding Charles a fond farewell.

I'd just returned from Brazil with Dad and the guys. Training mission, but I got to go, and I got a nice tan. Opposite seasons, gotta love them.

However, to my surprise, Charles followed me out into the parking lot. Beer in hand, "Where are you off to?"  
Hector must have had a date. It was the only logical reason his partner in crime was MIA.

"Home," I reported.

Easily the lady-killer caught up with me. "I thought you had school?"  
With a shake of my head I informed him, "Finished up and moved back in with Dad." While it sounded bad. It wasn't, quite the opposite really. Dorm life was so not for me.

The sound of snow crunching beneath my heels amused me. The feeling of cool snowflakes landing on my skin, then melting, was thrilling. I loved the winter. Perfect happy moments.

I just had to ignore Charles.

"You're walking all the way home?"

So my feet would get a little numb, big deal, "It's only three miles."

I tilted my face upwards towards the moon. Catching snowflakes with my face. While I hopped on the sidewalk. Happy and content with the small pleasures in life.

Charles finished his beer and tossed it in a trashcan, then hurried after me.

"I don't need an escort," I told him.

He slipped on some ice, "I do."

While he was certainly charming, he was not the man I needed right now. I needed normal. Civilian normal. Dad promised me normal.

Charlie held out his elbow to me. As if he were going to escort me. But I was neither girlfriend, nor family, so I did not not accept the elbow. I merely smiled, "Don't you have girlfriend's you should be with?"

He ignored that, but still kept his elbow out for me. "You never told me you were a master diver. Ryan never mentioned it either."

He was referring to the training trip, my winter vacation. Ryan had brought me along, especially after my biological father hadn't invited me to the family Christmas Trip. Sarah, my sister, had about lost her ever-loving mind over that. But, it didn't really surprise me. I always knew where I stood with him, and Ryan.

"Or that you had your Captain's license."

I avoided what was obviously ice on the sidewalk, just as a car slowed down. I patted his elbow. "Good night, Charles."

The car stopped and I strolled over, opened the door, and Dad peeked out at Charles, "Grey. What are you doing? Where's Williams?"

Grey jerked a finger over his shoulder, "Took the car and Michelle."

I had no idea who Michelle was, nor did I care. I buckled into the warm car and waited for Dad to tell me to close the door. Instead he told Grey, "Hop in, I'll drop you off at home."

**The Next Day…**

So, traipsing around in a little knit dress, stilettos, and tights three days before Christmas, not such a great idea.

I was sick.

My nose was running, my throat scratchy, I had a fever and was pretty sure someone had gotten into the house and beat me with a bat. I was sore, hot, and thirsty.

Ryan had left a glass of water, ibuprofen, soup, and the phone on my bed stand. He also told me something. It could have been, "I'm heading to the office, call me if you need anything. Check your fever in a few hours, or I'll send someone to check on you." Or, it could have been, "I'm running away with Jorge and we're going to be transvestites in Vegas."

I had no idea.

But, sometime during the day I got up to use the facilities.

Risked a look at the mirror, and managed to get my dark mane in a ponytail. My great accomplishment of the day.

I then slumped through the house. Got a glass of orange juice, and found the couch. In my sweatpants and tee, there was no need for a blanket. Plus, it was like a sauna in the house. I procured the remote and began flipping through channels.

HSN, Animal Planet, Soaps, Soaps, Soaps, News at Noon, Western Movie, Charmed, MTV, History Channel…jackpot. And something on Robin Hood, this day was looking up.


	2. Chapter 2

The Office

**The Office.**

**Charles.**

Just as I pulled a relatively clean shirt from my locker, Hector slammed the door to his, and plopped down on the bench. "Oh, and I got the pictures developed," he added.

The shirt smelled clean, and had long sleeves, score! "What pictures?"

"The pictures from the trip."

Sure enough, in his hand were at least forty prints from his little idiot-proof camera's. Hector had turned into some weird shutterbug on the training vacation. "You better not have any naked pictures of me again."

His attention was on the photos, "Hey, no one told you to jump off the boat naked man, you did that on your own."  
I smiled and pulled the shirt on.

Hector must have found a good one, he set it aside on the bench.

"I was drunk," I countered, tucking in the side.

Hector made a noise, continued flipping, and set aside a couple more. "So you serious about this? All of them?"

"Every last one…I think," I laughed.

Finding my sneakers, I slammed the locker shut and plopped down. I did grab the small pile he was making. What was so special about these pictures? I turned them right-side-up and saw pictures from our diving. Pictures of Victoria and myself.

Hector had gotten a few.

There was one of the two of us in the crystal clear water, she was showing me how to work the new dive computers. I flipped to the next one, with Victoria and her father, who had somehow talked her into letting him drive. He had that stupid sombrero and a beer in hand. The two were laughing. They couldn't look more different, or more happy. Her hair was too dark, she had no freckles and she was too short to be his daughter. Somehow, it looked like she was in the picture. She made him laugh.

Hector handed me another one for the pile.

It was of Victoria zipping me into my suit on the boat. Like I had really needed help. But she was beyond mesmerizing. She had that happy with life smile on her face.

I flipped to another, a really good one. And not just because Victoria was in a bikini on the bow of the boat, while in motion. But I was in the picture watching her. Mack was beside me, hurled over the side of the boat, loosing his lunch. It had been a constant theme that day.

"Oh, here's a good one, you're only a little naked," Hector snorted.

I snatched it from him.

Indeed, there was my bareass. In a bar, so I was hardly to blame. "Did you make doubles?"

Hector smiled, "Of course. That one's going in the Christmas card."

A few guys from Charlie Team came in and to their respective lockers. Hector ignored them, "Oh, I have many copies of this one." He then handed me a picture of Victoria in her black bikini.

Sure, she was dancing with some local dude named Lorenzo, but she looked really hot. The black against her tan popped and her boobs looked bigger. Hector and I both cocked our heads.

"Vicky has a tat?"

Apparently she did, "I guess so. And it's Victoria. She grabbed my coin sack ad squeezed when I called her that."

Hector grimaced, "And you're sure that this is it? The one that grabs your balls is it?"

I nodded, "Positive. Do you have anymore bikini pictures?"

Hector flipped through and shook his head. "I have one of her crying on the phone."

I looked over, he handed me the photo, and I remembered she had called her sister to say hi. Only to find out they were having a family reunion, one she had been casually forgotten to be invited to. The entire restaurant could hear he younger sister's scream's of outrage and fury.

I so wanted to put my foot up the ass of her biological father, and I wasn't even dating her yet. Though I had wary permission from Ryan, her Dad. Who had promised me a painful death in the event I made her cry.

That had been a fun conversation, but necessary, especially since he was practically her Dad.

Hector silently handed me one.

A good one.

It had the two of us seated side-by-side on the beach. Our backs were to the camera and we were looking out at the moon. This was a good one.

The door to the locker room slammed.

We looked at each other.

And then Ryan appeared, he scanned his men and pointed, "William's."

Hector looked up, "Yes Sir?"

"What are you doing?"

Hector paused, "Um…about ready to go grab lunch sir. We have to wait to use the Kill Room."

Ryan nodded and processed, then tossed Hector keys, "Good. Drop by my house and check on my daughter. She was sick this morning when I left the house. I gave her specific instructions. She was to call every hour on the hour and tell me her temperature, which she has not done yet."

Ah, so I inquired, "What was her temperature?"

"103, as of six hundred hours."

**minutes later…**

Hector pushed the door to Ryan's house open, and the sound of a TV came down the hall. I closed the door and we followed to noise into the massive living room.

Officer's Housing rocked.

When we found the TV and the couch, which had Victoria on it, conked out. I hurried over and felt her flushed forehead. She was burning up. I looked over my shoulder at Hector, "Go find a thermometer. She's hot."

With a nod he was off.

I looked back to Victoria.

In nothing more then sweats and a t-shirt, her hair pulled away from her fever-reddened face. I tapped her cheek, "Sweetheart, Victoria, wake up for me. Come on and wake up, it's time to eat."

Her eyes fluttered, but that was it.

I walked around the couch and scooped her up without effort. She wasn't heavy at all. Then again, I had to bench press thing up to three times her weight. So this was no big thing.

I carried her into the kitchen, when I found it, and laid her on the island. After finding a cup, I flicked water in her face. After a couple tries her face scrunched up. She turned her head and tried to roll over. I held my hand on her soft stomach, preventing it. "Victoria?"

Finally her dark eyes opened and focused on me. Confused, she blinked and tried to sit up. I gave her some water, "You never called Ryan. He sent us to check on you."

She stared, "Who?"

It was then Hector arrived.

I tossed him the phone off the wall, and he tossed me the Thermometer. Which I placed under her tongue, just as she was about to ask who we were.

Oh yeah, she was cooking.

By the time Ryan picked up the phone we had a temperature reading. With Hector looking over my shoulder, he announced it to Ryan.

It was 105.

She was so roasting.

I took the glass stick out from under her tongue, and she fell over on the island. Her ponytail casting dark hair across her face.

I could hear Ryan bitching about her having had her Flu Shot, and that reaction earlier in the year. To which Hector replied, "Well, she has something like the flu. What do you want us to do with her Sir?"

He then nodded, "Yes Sir, we'll drop her off for you."

Hector hung up the phone.

"We're taking her to the hospital?"

"Yep."

Ok then. I grabbed her feet and scooped her up yet again, "Get the doors, will ya?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Later that Day.**

**Victoria.**

So, there I was, sipping my contraband Dr. Pepper that Dad had brought, before he got paged away, when none other then Betty Blue show's up. Appears like magic in the doorway of my hospital room.

Flowers in hand too.

Which sent my suspicion button off like a tornado siren. I sipped my soda through a straw, "What's up?"

He strolled on in. Handed me the flowers, and just sat down on the side of the hospital bed. Which I would be leaving in an hour or so, once Dad came to pick me up.

Warily I took the flowers and smelled them.

Naturally the smelled great. Lots of color. Just what I liked.

Casually he leant on my legs, "How are you feeling?"

I looked at him from over the flowers, "Sore. Tired."

"Why don't I go get us some dinner?"  
I narrowed my eyes from over the top of the flowers. Charles gently pulled them aside, "Would you like that?"

Maybe, there was no hiding that I really liked him. I also liked having my heart intact though. "What would your other girlfriends think of that?"

Casually, as if he were telling me about his day, he replied, "They're gone."

Gone?

He probably saw the doubt on my face. "Call Hector, he'll confirm it. I was on the phone most the night last night."

With narrowed eyes I considered him.

"I even asked Ryan."

My jaw dropped, "Seriously?"

"Ask him."

So I smelled the flowers again, "You're serious aren't you?"

"Very."

With a look around the room and then back at Charles, I pondered it. And finally whined, "I wanted to date a civilian."

"They're boring," he assured me.

Which was probably true for like 88 of the civilian guy population. But it wasn't fair to group them all together. Maybe if I went to a biker bar I'd find a fun civilian. Before I could bring another point up, about how he would be dating his commanding officers daughter, that had be to a rule breaker somewhere, he leant over and kissed me. Immediately I shoved him aside, "Dude! You could get sick! I'm in the hospital here!"

Which apparently was meaningless to him.

Again, he kissed me. And this time I didn't fight him. If he wanted whatever I had he could have it, though he probably wouldn't catch it, since he had every vaccine and inoculation known to man. But this thought did not last very long. Charles was a great kisser.

We're talking a thirty on the one to ten scale.

It was good.

We're talking the painful IV in my tender hand was long forgotten, I hauled him up closer so he was pretty much straddling me in the stretcher. I wove my fingers through his head full of curls. I even liked his facial hair. Even he was getting into it, completely ignoring my roommate, Ethel, some general's wife or something. His hands were exploring beneath my ARMY PT t-shirt. Romantic, I know and the sweatpants were a classy touch too.

Eventually he had to stop kissing me. We did have to breathe. But he kept his face close to mine, our noses touched. "Now, would a civilian kiss you like that?"

I didn't know, I couldn't feel my toes.

Moving my hands down through his hand and to his cheeks, I kissed him quickly, "I don't know…kiss me again."

And he did and it was good.

Up until the point when the nurse came in, and started screeching at him. She was such a prude. Evil vile woman. She then made him leave.

**11:00 that night.**

While eating another bowl of chicken noodle soup, bundled up on the couch, I informed Dad of something, "Dad. I want a Porsche for Christmas."

Seated in his chair, Ryan looked up from the papers he was reading, "Yeah, well I want a 24 year old Brazilian Supermodel for Christmas."

"That's doable," I mused, picking around in my soup for more noodles, he smiled broadly.

He looked down at his papers again.

"Did you give Charles permission to go out with me?"

Without looking up he nodded, "Uh-huh."

He then highlighted something of importance.

So I added, while still-hunting for that perfect noodle. "We're having dinner together tomorrow."

Well that did it. The papers were lowered and I had his full and complete attention. "Are you serious? Who's the president? What year was I born?"

"Dad! He said you gave him permission."

His face darkened. As if he hadn't though Charles was serious. He had that look. The _I must destroy this_ look.

"Dad, don't freak out. You look like you're about to stroke out. We knew one day that I would begin to date. It was impossible to stop."

Calmly he suggested, "Since you're sick, why don't you have dinner here?"

Oh yeah right, like that was going to happen.

I rolled my eyes, and smiled upon finding the perfect noodle, which I quickly ate. "Because, I shouldn't be the only one to suffer. Everyone else should too. And he has had millions of shots, I seriously doubt he'll catch this. And I seriously doubt I'll hold his attention too long."


End file.
